Apoptosis is a common mode of eukaryotic cell death which is triggered by an inducible cascade of biochemical events leading to activation of endonucleases that cleave the nuclear DNA into oligonucleosome-length fragments. Several of the biochemical events that contribute to apoptotic cell death as well as both positive and negative regulators of apoptosis have recently been identified (Whyllie A., et al. (1980) Int. Rev. Cytol. 68, 251-305; Steller H., (1995) Science 267, 1445-1449; Fraser, A., Evan, G. (1996) Cell 85, 781-784; and Korsmeyer, S. J. (1995). Trends Genet. 11, 101-105). Apoptosis plays a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of a functional immune system by ensuring the timely self-destruction of autoreactive immature and mature lymphocytes as well as any emerging target neoplastic cells by cytotoxic T cells.
In addition to the beneficial effects associated with apoptosis, inappropriate apoptosis contributes to the pathogenesis and drug resistance of human leukemias and lymphomas (Cohen, J. J., et al. (1992) Annu. Rev. Immunol. 10, 267-293; Linette, G. P., Korsmeyer, S. J. (1994) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 6, 809-815; and Thompson, C. B. (1995) Science 367, 1456-1462). Thus, agents that are useful to modulate apoptosis are potentially useful as therapeutic agents for treating diseases in which inappropriate apoptosis is implicated. As a result, there is a considerable amount of ongoing research devoted to the identification of molecular regulators of apoptosis, and there is currently a need for novel agents (e.g. chemical or biological), and novel therapeutic methods, that are useful for modulating apoptosis. Such agents and methods may be useful for treating cancer (e.g. leukemias and lymphomas) or immune disorders in mammals. They may also be useful as pharmacolocical tools for use in in vitro or in vivo studies to enhance the understanding of the molecular basis of apoptosis (e.g. the pro-apoptotic versus the anti-apoptotic regulatory signal), as well as the pathogenesis of human lymphoid malignancies.